Growing Your Business

Keeping the Customer Satisfied

(Part 1 of 2)

Number one component of customer retention.

While we are all actively involved in our work responsibilities -- and in doing a good job at them -- it is easy for us to overlook what is important to our clients. We may even believe we're doing the best job possible, while our clients think we should be doing something differently. When this happens, in our client's mind we are not performing up to their expectations and we risk losing their business. To meet their requirements we need to develop a customer retention program that addresses each of their specific needs.

In your business -- parking lot sweeping and maintenance -- and in mine -- property management -- a pitfall is to focus more upon acquiring new business than on retaining our existing customers. There are, however, at least three compelling reasons for developing a strong customer retention program. First, we have invested time and money to find these customers; second, we're familiar with their needs and know their 'hot buttons;' and third, we know their paperwork routines, that is, how and when to bill them, and when we can expect to get paid. Our start-up cost of time and money is already invested in obtaining the business and getting the account on line. It makes more sense -- and dollars -- to continue to service our existing clients than to find new ones and go through a start-up period again.

In both this article and the one in the next issue, shopping centers will be used as the market arena for us to explore. They not only present some of the best business opportunities for parking lot sweeping and maintenance firms, but from a property management perspective they are the most complex type of property to manage.

Your Client Base

A parking lot sweeping firm has four clients/bosses for every shopping center it services. The most obvious is the person who does the hiring, typically the property manager. Many don't realize that I, as a property manager, share three more bosses with each contractor I hire.

Both of us are paid by a second client, the property owner. Next in line come the property owner's clients -- the tenants. Finally, it is the tenants' clients, the shoppers, who ultimately support it all, since their purchases are what enable tenants to pay rent to the landlord; rent money is what enables the property owner to pay you and me.

Let's look at meeting the needs of each of these clients, beginning with the ultimate client we all share, the shopper. A shopping center will not be successful if it is not accepted by the shoppers in the community. To keep these patrons happy, they must like six basic items about a complex. These are the location, the anchor or major tenants, the types of small shop tenants, and the center's safety, appearance, and level of maintenance service.

Since most urban areas have plenty of malls to choose from, keeping the shopper happy is vital to the success of all of us involved. In this, sweeping contractors have a direct influence on two of the six items that shoppers use to evaluate a shopping center, the maintenance of the parking lot and the center's overall appearance.

Tenants, the next client, are billed for your services through their share of the cost to operate the common areas, and want value for what they spend.

Property owners, at the top of our client list, know that satisfied tenants and happy shoppers pay the bills. They also want to keep their center's operating expenses reasonable and competitive with others in the area, since most are billed to the tenants. If costs are too high, or the service is poor, tenants will be more likely to move to another shopping center when their lease expires.

Every person in my position wants shoppers to accept and patronize the shopping center, tenants not to complain about maintenance service, and a property owner who believes the center is being well maintained at a fair price. A parking lot sweeping firm that understands and meets the needs of everyone in the equation is well on the way to a successful enterprise.

Richard F. Muhlebach is president of TRF Management Corporation in Bellevue, WA. TRF manages shopping centers and office buildings in the Northwest and Alaska. Muhlebach has co-authored Shopping Center Management and the Managing and Leasing Commercial Properties series.

Take a look at the sequel to this article, which is entitled Marketing To Managers.

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